Category Education

Schools, universities, teaching, and learning broadly, as news and accountability.

Education, Macon, Watchdog Reports

Bibb County Schools: The Repair

A historic red brick school building in Georgia at sunrise, an American flag flying in front

Bibb County Watchdog, Part 6 of Six: The Repair Five parts of this series have taken Bibb County Schools apart, piece by piece. Part 1 followed the money and found a district…

Dr. Alan Wood
November 8, 2026

Education, Macon, Watchdog Reports

VIP Academy: A Program First, Then a School

A student in a live online lesson, watching her teacher on a laptop screen while she takes notes

Dr. Julia Daniely built VIP Academy from a COVID-era program into a Bibb County school and ran it until her retirement. Now the district wants to close it and copy it. She…

Dr. Alan Wood
November 5, 2026
1 Comment

Education, Macon, Watchdog Reports

40/40/20: The Formula That Lets Bibb Students Fail Every Test and Pass

A balance scale in a classroom, with a tall stack of daily worksheets outweighing a single exam booklet

Bibb County's own handbook weights daily work the same as every unit test combined. Run the numbers the way a student does, and the test stops mattering.

Dr. Alan Wood
November 4, 2026

Education, Macon, Watchdog Reports

Teachers, the Repair List Is Still Open Until Friday

A teacher's notepad with a short handwritten checklist and a coffee mug on a classroom desk, the three-line repair list Part 6 is asking teachers to send

Five parts of this series have documented what is broken in Bibb County Schools. Part 6, The Repair, is being built from your answers instead of mine, and the form closes Friday…

Dr. Alan Wood
November 3, 2026

Education, Macon, Watchdog Reports

Do Not Close VIP Academy: An Anonymous Teacher Makes the Case

The William S. Hutchings Building at 2011 Riverside Drive in Macon, Georgia, home of VIP Academy

By an Anonymous VIP Teacher, guest contributor Editor’s note: This guest article arrived through the Global Watchdog Tipline on November 2, the day after we opened the door to guest contributions. The…

Dr. Alan Wood
November 2, 2026

Education, Macon, Watchdog Reports

Bibb County Schools: Parte 5, El Aula

The front entrance of Rutland High School in Macon, Georgia

Mirad la película: si no tenéis tiempo de leer la investigación completa, esta animación de once minutos cubre seis de las historias más escandalosas que contiene, las humillaciones y degradaciones diarias que…

Dr. Alan Wood
October 28, 2026

Education, Macon, Watchdog Reports

Bibb County Schools: Part 5, The Classroom

Watch the film: if you do not have time to read the whole investigation, this ten-minute animation covers six of the most outrageous stories in it, the daily humiliations and degradations Rutland’s…

Dr. Alan Wood
October 28, 2026
21 Comments

Education, EduLingo, Teaching Guides

Teaching Ser vs. Estar: Why the DOCTOR and PLACE Acronyms Fail Your Students (And What Works Instead)

A Spanish teacher points to two columns of sticky notes on a classroom whiteboard while her students watch, the sorting approach this guide uses for ser vs. estar

Every Spanish teacher has a poster, a worksheet, or a well-meaning textbook page that promises to settle ser vs. estar forever with two acronyms. DOCTOR for ser: Description, Occupation, Characteristic, Time, Origin,…

Dr. Alan Wood
October 23, 2026

Education, Macon, Watchdog Investigations, Watchdog Reports

Bibb County Schools: The Bureaucracy

The Bibb County School District central office at 484 Mulberry Street in downtown Macon, Georgia

Part 4 of the Bibb County Watchdog series follows the org chart: who sits in the central office, what the state reports they are paid, and the questions the public record still…

Dr. Alan Wood
October 21, 2026
3 Comments

Education, Macon, Watchdog Investigations, Watchdog Reports

Bibb County Schools: The Graduation Mirage – 89% Graduate, 23% Proficient

Split graphic contrasting Bibb County's 89 percent graduation rate with 23 percent student proficiency

Part 3 of 6 A records-based investigation into what Bibb County’s graduation rate actually measures, and what it doesn’t. If diplomas were learning, Bibb County would be a model district. They aren’t,…

Dr. Alan Wood
October 13, 2026
1 Comment

Culture & Heritage, Education, EduLingo, Teaching Guides

Teaching Día de los Muertos: Not Mexican Halloween

A traditional Día de los Muertos ofrenda with framed family photos, lit veladoras, decorated calaveras, orange cempasúchil marigolds, glasses of water and pan de muerto on a blue cloth

Día de los Muertos is not Mexican Halloween. A Spanish teacher's guide to teaching it accurately: the ofrenda element by element, La Catrina's real story, a two-level reading approach, the comparison that…

Dr. Alan Wood
October 13, 2026

Education, Macon, Watchdog Investigations, Watchdog Reports

Bibb County Schools Spending: What Is Bibb Buying?

Professor Winston, a bulldog in glasses, examines a school-spending ledger beside contract folders.

Houston spends less and pays teachers more. Bibb faces another budget gap. Before the classroom gets the scissors, make the contracts defend themselves. This series is reader-supported. Nobody at a district office…

Dr. Alan Wood
October 8, 2026

Education, Education Policy & Commentary, EduLingo, Language & Culture, News

The Illiteracy Epidemic: Why Half of America Struggles to Read (and What It Means for the Future)

Illiteracy in the US: an open book with its letters dissolving into the air, symbolizing the decline of reading in America

More than half of American adults read below a sixth-grade level—and it’s getting worse. Illiteracy isn’t just an education issue; it’s an economic, social, and democratic crisis. How did we get here?…

Dr. Alan Wood
October 7, 2026
1 Comment

Education, Macon, Watchdog Investigations, Watchdog Reports

Bibb County Schools: Bigger Budgets, Fewer Students, More Questions

Bibb County Schools budget investigation - chalkboard asking where did the money go

A records-based investigation into budget gaps, administrative spending, audit findings, taxes, borrowing and academic results.

Dr. Alan Wood
October 3, 2026
1 Comment

Education, EduLingo, Teaching Guides

How I Structure Spanish I Final Exam Review

How I Structure Spanish I Final Exam Review (So It Actually Works) Every May, I watched the same tragedy unfold: students “studying” for the Spanish final by rereading a semester’s worth of…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 28, 2026

Culture & Heritage, Education, EduLingo, Teaching Guides

Teaching Restaurant Spanish: Beyond Vocabulary Lists

Teaching Restaurant Spanish: From Vocabulary Lists to Real Ordering Skills Ask a Spanish I student to name twenty foods and you’ll get a confident list: la pizza, el pollo, las frutas. Then…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 28, 2026

Education, EduLingo, Teaching Guides

Why Students Never Really Learn Gustar (And How to Fix It)

Why Students Never Really Learn Gustar (and How to Fix It) Every Spanish teacher knows the moment. You have taught gustar. The students nodded along. The notes look fine. Then the quiz…

Dr. Alan Wood
September 28, 2026

Education, EduLingo, Language & Culture, Research & Tools

Effectiveness of AI-Generated Feedback Across Different Writing Systems

NEW RESEARCH REVEALS: AI tools like ChatGPT are leaving some language learners behind! My latest research uncovers a concerning equity gap in AI language tools. While ChatGPT offers impressive feedback for English…

Dr. Alan Wood
May 17, 2025